Introduction
The present discussion is based on an overview of two organisations in Part 1, such as Unilever and PZ Cussons, including their type, legal structure, mission, vision, environmental pressure, along key environmental pressures. It will also include an overview of key stakeholders. It will also focus on digitisation and its impact on the organisations, along with leadership and management theories. The discussion will also highlight on two global issues and how businesses are responsible for managing the issues effectively. In Part 2, it will discuss microeconomics and macroeconomics, along with their impacts on the both Unilever and PZ Cussons.
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Part 1
Different types of organisations, their structures, and stakeholders
Unilever
Unilever has been identified as a public company as its ownership is distributed among shareholders. The main purpose of Unilever states that in order to succeed, it requires optimum standards of corporate behaviours, collaborating with communities, and the environment on which it has an impact (Unilever, 2025). The main objective of Unilever is to grow its business through a strong portfolio and market-leading brands, while making a positive environmental impact. The vision of Unilever is to grow business, minimising environmental footprint, and increase positive social impact through Unilever Sustainable Living Plan (Unilever, 2025). The environmental pressure on Unilever is based on minimizing climate action and aiming to achieve carbon neutrality across the value chain. Regarding this, Unilever has been aiming to move towards net zero, which is the immediate priority, and make deep cuts in absolute Scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions by 2030(Unilever, 2025). It is operating in the consumer goods industry and market, aiming to improve overall operations. The post-COVID challenges is based on a loss of Food Solutions by 70% as the pandemic forced restaurants to close (Unilever, 2023). The stakeholders of Unilever are consumers, shareholders, government, suppliers, and local communities (Unilever, 2025). The stakeholders are responsible for influencing business operations through providing supplies, investing money, and buying goods.
PZ Cussons
PZ Cussons has been termed as a public company and it operates in the retail market, and the industry in which it is functioning is based on household and personal products (Fidelity, 2025). The main purpose of PZ Cussons is based on focus on a better life, good working, and bringing delight into people’s lives to establish a higher standard of the future (Pzcussons, 2025). The main objective of PZ Cussons is to enhance consumer lives through sustainable products and become a leading consumer brand. The mission of PZ Cussons is to enhance the lives of consumers through providing sustainable, quality, and innovative brands. The vision is to become a leading consumer brand in its operating market. PZ Cussons has been facing environmental pressure as it is responsible for addressing environmental impact by reducing the use of plastics in which it aiming to reduce 33% of virgin plastics in packaging by 2030 (Pzcussons, 2025). PZ Cussons has faced post-COVID challenges in the supply of raw materials and packaging for Carex hand wash to meet soaring demand (Financial Times, 2020). The key stakeholders of the company are investors, consumers, employees, local communities, and government bodies, who are responsible for influencing the business operations of PZ Cussons.
Digitisation and its impact on the organisations’
Unilever
The digital transformation within Unilever aims to reduce complexity and build capacity for growth. Regarding this, Unilever has integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics to change the way of business (Unilever, 2025). The digital transformation of Unilever is incredibly complex, and the network helps in managing an average of 240TB of data for over 3 billion of transactions (Unilever, 2025). The implementation of IoT, collaboration, e-commerce, and e-business facilitates increasing overall business efficacy through enhancing decision-making approaches, along with the enhancement of business operations. Using AI and digital tools within the organisation of Unilever it facilitates in improving its supply chain operations along with improving its business structure. Along with this, digital tools help in the recent formulation of the world’s first green carbon detergent (Unilever, 2023). The integration of technologies, such as IoT and e-commerce, facilitates in improving the customer base and helps in improving the business structure in an effective manner. With the help of AI and IoT, a business can make better decisions through making predictions of customer demands as well as enhancing overall business operations. Thus, integration of digital technologies, such as IoT, networking, and collaboration, facilitates in improving overall business operations as well as decision-making power.
PZ Cussons
PZ Cussons has also been focusing on implementing digital technologies as well as collaboration among employees, which helps in enhancing business operations along with optimum decision-making capability. Regarding this aspect, PZ Cussons has been implementing AI as digital technology in order to make enhanced decisions with the business (Pzcussons, 2025). The implementation of effective collaboration within the organisation facilitates in making improved decisions with efficiency in business operations. The integration of e-business, e-commerce, and social technologies facilitates in improving overall business operations and also facilitates in making enhanced decisions through predicting and analysing the demands of consumers within the organisation. Digital transformation helps in improving collaboration as well as enhancing online branding through e-commerce channels within PZ Cussons. The effective integration of digital technologies facilitates in improving overall business operations by making appropriate decisions for leveraging sales and generating more revenue. Thus, the application of technologies such as AI and IoT within PZ Cussons facilitates the implementation of overall decision-making processes and uplifts overall business operations effectively.
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Leadership and management theory and challenges in your chosen organisation
Leadership and management theory
A leadership theory, which can be aligned with the operations of Unilever, includes Transformational leadership. It states that leaders who are effective do not manage the transactions (Saad Alessa, 2021). They motivate, inspire and empower followers in achieving outcomes which are extraordinary by appealing to their sense of purpose and values.
In terms of Unilever, transformational leadership plays an important role due to the strong commitment of the company to its business model driven by purpose. Leaders of the brand exemplified this style by setting goals which are ambitious and focusing on profit, such as improving health and reducing environmental impacts. A compelling vision should be articulated by the transformational leader at Unilever. Moreover, the next step is to convince the employees to execute and internalise the overall vision. It can be achieved by them by providing individualised consideration, intellectual stimulation and inspirational motivation.
A management theory which can be highlighted is Scientific Management, which provides a contrast and foundation to understanding efficiency in the immense global supply chain of Unilever and the base of manufacturing. The emphasis is on standardisation, close supervision and specialisation for maximising efficiency and productivity (Merkle, 2023). Management of the complex and vast network of logistics requires application of data-driven and rigorous methods for ensuring quality control and effective delivery across the global markets.
Challenges of leadership is a contemporary model of global business
Significant challenges of leadership are faced by Unilever, which directly stems from the demands of the global model of business. A significant challenge is to lead through agility and competition (Aghina et al., 2021). The modern environment of consumers has been characterised by rapid technological change, fragmentation, and with competition from the nimble and smaller brands. The matrix and traditional structure of Unilever can be slow to react at times, irrespective of offering scale.
Strategic management and control in the performance of an organisation
A process to monitor activities for ensuring they are accomplished as planned is known as control. Different forms for Unilever include strategic control, quality control and financial control. It can be directly linked to the importance of environmental scanning and strategic management. An example of environmental scanning is the response of Unilever towards DRC and brands which are purpose-driven.
Global issues and reflection on the chosen organisation
The two global issues, which can be considered, include climate change, along with cultural diversity and inclusion.
Cultural diversity and inclusion
It has been a reality for Unilever as the brand operates in more than 190 countries with consumers and employees coming from diverse backgrounds. Hence, it is a change to move towards genuine inclusion from mere tolerance. The brand recognises that competitive advantage is offered by Unilever by providing insights into the base of diverse customers (Ahmed, 2024).
The principles of a responsible global citizen are reflected by the approach of Unilever. Aggressive gender balance targets are set by the company across its leadership globally. Moreover, there is an effort to ensure that the demographic profile of local markets is reflected in the workforce. Hence, a commitment towards sensitivity and self-awareness is demonstrated by this commitment, along with an understanding that local content and knowledge are important for marketing and product development.
Climate change:
An existential threat across the globe is represented by climate change and is a global issue which impacts the long-term sustainability of Unilever (Roy, 2024). It is because of the resource consumption of the company, supply chain emissions and production waste, which contribute to the problem directly. This issue is handled by Unilever through strong commitments toward accountability and ethical decision-making. Deforestation is also addressed by it, along with tackling plastic pollution through the efforts of reducing the use of plastic and use recycled plastic. Hence, accountability to the stakeholders is demonstrated by it and not just the shareholders. Ethical decision for the brand is to absorb higher costs of cooperation for green packaging and sustainable sourcing, as it is aligned with the global public good and value creation in the long term. Hence, the level of environmental stewardship plays an important role in a globalised economy.
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Part 2
Microeconomics and macroeconomics and their impacts
Porter's Five Forces analysis
Threat of new entrants(low)
It is low due to the capital required for global distribution, R&D, and with brand building (Hennart, 2022). On the contrary, this threat increases alignment due to the rise of digitally active and small brands.
Bargaining power of suppliers (low)
It is low for most of the non-specialised materials due to the immense purchasing volume of Unilever. On the contrary, supplier power can be high for sustainably sourced ingredients, which require supply chain partnerships and long-term contracts.
Bargaining power of buyers (High)
Immense pressure on shelf space and pricing is exerted by the global retailers like Amazon and Walmart.
Threat of substitutes (High)
It is high for most of the CPG products due to the presence of countless substitutes. Hence, brand reinvestment and constant innovation are required.
Competitive rivalry (High)
It is high due to the major players like P&G and Nestle, where competition is fought on advertising, product innovation and pricing.
Macroeconomics
Economic problem and resource allocation:
An economic problem is the scarcity of resources where the wants are unlimited. Unilever has responses to this by its complete and continuous decisions in terms of allocation of scarce resources across the portfolio.
Supply and demand:
The demand for products is price inelastic for the essentials but elastic for the discretionary and premium products. Factors like a rise in inflation can be shifting the demand curve for products which are non-essential to Unilever (Sabry, 2024).
Market structures:
Unilever has been operating in an oligopoly market structure across the globe with a few large firms dominating the overall industry. It means innovation, and the price of Unilever elicits a reaction from the rivals.
Circular flow of income
It illustrates the movement of money between the households, the government and the firms. Salaries and wages are paid by Unilever, which spends that income to purchase products of Unilever.
Measures of macroeconomic activity:
Important measures include inflation and exchange rates, along with GDO (Balk et al., 2022). Volatile rates of exchange are a challenge which can hamper profits for Unilever.
Fiscal and monetary policies:
The sales and operating costs of Unilever are impacted by fiscal policy, which includes government spending and taxation. Monetary policy is set by the central bank, which influences the interest rates and increases the cost of borrowing for Unilever.
Conclusion
Based on the above discussion, it has been concluded that organisations have different types of legal structures, objectives, and purposes. The focus is on both companies, such as Unilever and PZ Cussons in which both of them are belonging to the retail and consumer goods sector as well as public companies. Digital transformation in both companies is crucial for making optimal decisions. Leadership and management theories have been demonstrated based on Unilever, along with global issues that influence the organisation. Along with this, it has also presented microeconomics and macroeconomics of the organisation, such as Unilever, by analysing its internal and external aspects.
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